Why Your Online Shop Isn't Making the Money It Should
I was talking to a bloke named Dave a few weeks ago. Dave runs a specialty hardware business out in Ipswich. He’s got great products, he knows his stuff, and he spent a fair whack of change getting a nice-looking website built.
But Dave had a problem. He’d check his bank account at the end of the month and the online sales just weren't there. He was getting plenty of foot traffic to his physical store, but the website was like a ghost town.
"I’m on the internet," he told me, frustrated. "Why aren't people buying?"
Most business owners think that once the site is live, Google just automatically sends customers their way. It doesn't work like that. If you want to show up when someone types "heavy duty gate hinges" or "best fishing reels Brisbane" into their phone, you have to play the game.
But here’s the thing: most of the advice you’ll find online about "SEO" is over-complicated rubbish written by tech nerds for other tech nerds. You don't need to know how the engine works to drive the car; you just need to know how to get from A to B.
Here are the most common mistakes I see Brisbane business owners making with their online shops, and exactly how to fix them to get more customers through your digital front door.
Mistake 1: Copying the Manufacturer’s Homework
This is the biggest mistake I see, and it’s a killer. Let’s say you sell a specific brand of power tool. You get the product data from the manufacturer, and you copy and paste their description onto your site.
Why is this a disaster? Because 500 other shops did the exact same thing.
Google sees 500 pages with the exact same text and it gets bored. It doesn't know which one is the "original" or the most important, so it often just ignores all of them. If you want to stand out and actually make money, you need to write your own descriptions.
Talk like a human. Tell your customers why this product is better than the cheap version at the big-box hardware store. Mention how it handles the Queensland humidity or why it’s perfect for a weekend project in the backyard. When you write unique descriptions, Google sees you as an authority, and customers see you as someone who knows what they’re talking about.
Mistake 2: Forgetting the "Shop Front" Basics
Imagine walking into a shop in Chermside and seeing no prices, blurry photos, and boxes piled up so high you can't find the counter. You’d walk straight back out, right?
Your website is your digital shop front. If your photos look like they were taken with a potato in a dark room, nobody is going to give you their credit card details. High-quality photos aren't just about looking "pretty"—they are about building trust.
When people trust you, they buy from you. We’ve seen that simple tweaks to how you present your products can drastically get more sales from Shopify or whatever platform you're using. If you don't look like a real, professional business, Google won't want to show you to people, and people won't want to buy.
Mistake 3: Ignoring How People Actually Search
I see this all the time with professional services and niche shops. They use fancy industry names for their products that nobody actually uses in real life.
If you sell "Ergonomic Lumbar Support Systems," that’s great. But your customers are probably typing "comfy office chair for back pain" into Google.
If you don't use the words your customers use, you won't show up. It’s that simple. Think about the last five questions a customer asked you in person. Those questions are exactly what they are typing into Google. Answer those questions on your product pages, and you’ll start seeing more traffic.
Mistake 4: The "Ghost Town" Vibe
People are social creatures. We don't like being the first person to walk into a quiet restaurant, and we don't like being the first person to buy from a website that looks abandoned.
If your site doesn't have reviews, recent updates, or a clear way to contact you, it looks dodgy. You need to make your online shop look busy so that new visitors feel safe reaching for their wallets.
This isn't just for the customers, either. Google looks for "freshness." If a site hasn't been touched in two years, Google assumes the business might be closed and stops sending people there. Adding a few customer reviews every month or updating your homepage with a seasonal offer tells everyone—Google included—that you’re open for business and ready to take orders.
Mistake 5: Slow and Clunky Mobile Experience
Most of your customers are looking at your site while they’re on the bus, sitting at a cafe, or lying on the couch. If your site takes more than a couple of seconds to load, they’re gone. They’ll click the next link down and buy from your competitor instead.
You don't need to be a computer programmer to fix this. Usually, it’s because you’ve uploaded massive photo files that haven't been resized. Make sure your website works on phones perfectly. If you have to pinch and zoom just to read the price, you are losing money every single day.
What Should You Do First?
I know this sounds like a lot of work. You’re busy running a business, not sitting around writing product descriptions all day. But you don't have to do it all at once.
If you want to start seeing results in the next 30 to 90 days, here is the order I’d do things in:
1. Fix your top 10 products: Pick the items that make you the most profit. Write 200 words of unique, helpful text for each one. Don't use the manufacturer's blurb. 2. Get better photos: Use a decent phone camera, good lighting, and take photos from multiple angles. It makes a world of difference. 3. Check your speed: Open your site on your own phone using 4G (not the office Wi-Fi). If it’s slow, talk to your web person about shrinking your image sizes. 4. Ask for reviews: Every time you ship an order, send a follow-up email asking for a quick review. This builds the trust you need to turn visitors into buyers.
Is It Worth the Cost?
Marketing is an investment, not an expense. If you spend $1,000 on fixing your website and it brings in an extra $5,000 in sales over the next few months, that’s a win.
Most Brisbane business owners I talk to are tired of being told they need to "do SEO" without ever seeing a return on that money. The truth is, if you focus on the basics—talking to your customers in their language, having a site that works on phones, and looking like a trusted professional—you will see more phone calls and more orders.
It’s not magic; it’s just good business.
If you're tired of your website being a digital paperweight and you want it to actually start bringing in customers, we can help. At Local Marketing Group, we don't care about fancy reports or technical jargon. We care about your bottom line.
Ready to get more sales? Contact us at Local Marketing Group and let’s have a straight-talk chat about how to grow your business.